Projects per year
Abstract
Why did we carry out this research?
One in every hundred injections is given incorrectly and causes harm to the patient. To reduce mistakes, the NHS publishes the Injectable Medicines Guide (IMG). This website tells nurses how to prepare each injection. Some people think that the IMG is confusing, so improving its design might lead to fewer mistakes.
In the first part of this project, we used “user testing” to improve the design of the IMG. Then, we wanted to find out if nurses using our new design made fewer mistakes than nurses using the original design.
How did we do this research?
We asked 273 nurses to prepare and give a dose of a pretend medicine to a pretend patient. They did this whilst they were working on their ward. To help the nurses with this task, they were randomly given the original IMG design or our new design. We watched them do this and recorded what happened. Then we asked the nurses to answer a questionnaire about how confident they felt.
What did we find out?
Our findings show that user testing the IMG makes it safer and faster to give injections.
About 8 out of 10 nurses who used the original IMG made a mistake, but only 5 out of 10 nurses using our new design made a mistake. Nurses who used the new IMG design were one minute faster and more confident. We can be confident that all these differences are not due to chance.
One in every hundred injections is given incorrectly and causes harm to the patient. To reduce mistakes, the NHS publishes the Injectable Medicines Guide (IMG). This website tells nurses how to prepare each injection. Some people think that the IMG is confusing, so improving its design might lead to fewer mistakes.
In the first part of this project, we used “user testing” to improve the design of the IMG. Then, we wanted to find out if nurses using our new design made fewer mistakes than nurses using the original design.
How did we do this research?
We asked 273 nurses to prepare and give a dose of a pretend medicine to a pretend patient. They did this whilst they were working on their ward. To help the nurses with this task, they were randomly given the original IMG design or our new design. We watched them do this and recorded what happened. Then we asked the nurses to answer a questionnaire about how confident they felt.
What did we find out?
Our findings show that user testing the IMG makes it safer and faster to give injections.
About 8 out of 10 nurses who used the original IMG made a mistake, but only 5 out of 10 nurses using our new design made a mistake. Nurses who used the new IMG design were one minute faster and more confident. We can be confident that all these differences are not due to chance.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Publication status | Published - 19 Nov 2019 |
| Event | NIHR Academy Members' Conference - Queen's Hotel, Leeds, UK United Kingdom Duration: 19 Nov 2019 → 20 Nov 2019 |
Conference
| Conference | NIHR Academy Members' Conference |
|---|---|
| Country/Territory | UK United Kingdom |
| City | Leeds |
| Period | 19/11/19 → 20/11/19 |
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Dive into the research topics of 'Well-designed information for nurses makes injections safer: A plain English poster'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.Projects
- 1 Finished
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Can Systematic User Testing of the National NHS Injectable Medicines Guide Improve Patient Safety
Jones, M. (PI)
National Institute for Health Research
1/01/18 → 31/12/19
Project: Central government, health and local authorities